Hunted- A Casualty Ethan Hardy Fanfiction
by CasualtyFic
Summary: When Ethan reported Bonnie to the police, he thought that was the last time he would ever see her. For once, Doctor Hardy was wrong. When Bonnie reappears and begins stalking, threatening and injuring Ethan, will he be able to confide in someone, or will he seek help too late?
1. Chapter 1

Ethan yawned and rubbed his eyes as he approached the ED, his hands thrust deep inside his pockets. It had just gone 6 AM, and it was time for the dreaded early shift.

However, just as he was nearing the entrance of the ED, his attention was diverted by a woman sitting on the bench in the parking lot, groaning and clutching her stomach in pain. He hastily tossed his empty energy drink can in a nearby trash bin, and hurried across the parking lot to the woman. She was wearing a scarf that covered her mouth and her nose, so Ethan couldn't quite see her face.

"Hello, I'm Doctor Hardy, are you alright?" He asked, concerned.

The woman just ignored him, and heaved herself off the bench and staggered away, still holding her abdomen in agony. Ethan immediately got up and went after her, following her all the way round behind the ED, into a deserted alleyway.

"Hey, hey, don't worry. I'm a doctor- I want to help you." Ethan said gently, slowly approaching the woman in case she tried to run again.

The woman didn't respond, but instead simply pulled her scarf down, revealing her face. At that moment, Ethan's stomach dropped. He knew that face.

Bonnie.

"Long time no see, Doctor Hardy." She smirked, folding her arms.

Ethan was unable to do anything but stare at her in terror. He tried to speak, but for some reason he was totally incapable of forming words. Bonnie was mentally unstable, and he had just let her lure him to a deserted place.

Ethan reached into his back pocket to get his phone and call the police- or Cal, or anyone so that he wouldn't be left alone with this mad, dangerous woman.

However, Bonnie noticed him reaching for his phone, and swiftly reached into her black leather handbag and pulled out a knife.

 _A knife._ Ethan internally screamed at himself.

"Now, you don't want to call the police on me, do you?" Bonnie asked mockingly, the knife pointed straight at Ethan's chest, "Although, that didn't stop you last time, did it? I know what you did. You reported me to the police- and now you're going to pay for it.

Sweat dripped down Ethan's forehead, and his heart pounded hard against his ribcage.

Bonnie noticed Ethan's terror, and said in a mocking voice, "Oh, don't worry, I would never kill you. No, no. Much worse. I'll take you away from here, far away, so that no-one will know where you went, and I'll slowly torture you until you're nothing more than a mess of blood and bones." A wild grin spread across Bonnie's face.

Ethan swallowed hard, his mouth and throat completely dry from terror.

"Of course, I can't do it now- everyone would see me taking you!" She laughed manically, "But soon, I'll come for you. And you're not going to tell anyone about this, are you? Good. Because if you do..." She paused to think for a second, "If you do, your _beloved_ brother Cal will have his throat slit right open. Understand?"

"You... You're mad." Was all that Ethan was able to whisper.

"Oh, how rude of you! You know, I think you're going to need to learn some manners. And the only way to learn: is through _punishment_."

At the word 'punishment', Ethan felt a white hot pain rip through his torso. He staggered backwards and looked down in horror to see scarlet blood seeping through his clothes from a stab wound in his chest.

"Remember, you don't tell anyone, or else Cal gets it." Bonnie growled menacingly.

She casually dropped the knife that was now dripping with Ethan's blood into her handbag and walked away, her high heels clacking against the pavement.

Ethan slumped against the wall and slid down to the floor, clutching his chest as his hands became soaked in his own blood. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to take deep breaths despite the intense pain gripping his chest.

He put a hand against the wall to steady himself, and tried to pull himself up. He knew that his condition would just deteriorate if he didn't get help- fast. However, the second he tried to support his own weight his legs gave way underneath him and he collapsed back onto the pavement again.

He felt his eyes begin to droop- he felt tired. So tired. And since when was it so cold?

With a lot of effort, he managed to pick up his phone. He knew that logically he should call 999, but his fingers acted of their own accord and dialled Cal's number. He just wanted to hear Cal's voice reassuring him- telling him that it would all be okay, even if it wasn't. He weakly lifted the phone to his ear, his head drooping slightly to one side.

"C-C-Cal?" He asked, his stutter coming through badly in this state of pain and panic.

Cal's voice came through the phone, and Ethan's heart lifted for a second, only to be dropped once more.

"This is Caleb Knight, you've gone through to answerphone. Feel free to leave a message!"

"C-Cal... H-Help me, p-p-please... B-Bonnie- she... Kn-Knife..." He whispered deliriously as tears dripped down his cheeks, "B-Behind the ED... P-Please, C-C-Cal!"

He sobbed, before hanging up, praying that Cal would listen to the message soon.

Blood was still pouring freely from the open wound in his chest, soaking his shirt completely and dripping onto the pavement, staining it crimson. He tried to find the energy to left his hands and try to stem the bleeding, but he just couldn't do it. It was as if his energy was just trickling out of his chest alongside his blood.

Within minutes, his head was killing him and his vision was blurring. He finally couldn't keep his eyes open any longer, and he slumped sideways onto the floor, his eyelids slipping shut.

 _Please, Cal._


	2. Chapter 2

Cal groaned and buried his face deeper into his pillow as his alarm beeped incessantly for what felt like the hundredth time. He stuck one arm out and flailed it in the rough direction of his alarm clock, getting a lucky hit and knocking the stupid machine onto the floor, stopping the annoying beeping.

Okay, admittedly, he may have slept in just a little, and he may be just a little late for work today. It wasn't his fault- Lofty and Max had forced him to stay at the pub for ages the night before, and when the bar was right there, of course Cal couldn't not get drunk.

He eventually managed to heave himself out of bed, the only thing motivating him being the mental image of Connie reprimanding him for being late. He groaned and massaged his forehead, this was one hell of a hangover. He hastily threw his clothes on and brushed his teeth, hurried down to the kitchen and shoved a piece of bread into his mouth before leaving the house.

On the way to the ED, he pulled his phone out to see a new text and a voicemail. He opened the text first, which turned out to be a somewhat angry-sounding text from Connie saying that he was late for his shift. Oops. He hastily composed a reply and sent it off, completely forgetting to check the voicemail in his haste.

He was already half an hour late by the time he burst through the ED doors.

"Doctor Knight, you're half an hour late." Connie said, raising an eyebrow.

"Good morning to you too, Mrs Beauchamp," Cal attempted to joke, before quickly backtracking on that idea and spluttering, "I mean, I'm sorry, it won't happen again."

"I'm sure this experience will make you a changed man, Doctor Knight," Connie remarked sarcastically before returning to Resus.

"Nice going, mate," Max piped up from behind Cal, "Real smooth!"

"Shut it," Cal groaned, before heading off to cubicles.

He had a pretty standard morning; a couple of broken bones, one over-protective parent who brought their child in for what is known as a 'common cold' and a few superficial wounds.

His first break finally arrived, and he didn't waste any time in heading to the staff room to get some coffee. On the way there, he was stopped by a slightly flustered Lofty.

"Hey, Cal, do you have any idea where your brother is?" Lofty asked as he retrieved a couple of patient files.

"Uh... Nope, sorry. Have you tried calling or texting him?"

"Yeah, I texted him, but he hasn't replied."

"Well, it's Ethan," Cal rolled his eyes, "He never replies to texts."

For a moment, Cal paused and wondered where Ethan was, but he had soon pushed it to the back of his mind. He was probably just somewhere in cubicles, and Lofty being Lofty just couldn't find him.

However, by the time that Cal's lunch break had rolled around, he still hadn't seen Ethan for the whole day. He knew that it was probably nothing, but his inner older brother came out and he started to worry. Luckily, at that moment Connie entered reception- she would know if Ethan was in today or not.

"Um, Mrs Beauchamp?" Cal said, nervously fiddling with his hands.

"What is it, Doctor Knight? Come to promise me that you'll never be late, again?" Connie said half-jokingly, but the smile immediately dropped from her face when she saw how anxious Cal looked, "What is it, Cal?"

"It's, uh, it's probably nothing, but I was just wondering if Ethan's in today?"

Connie frowned as she took a second to think, before saying, "He should be, but come to think of it, I haven't seen him at all today."

"Me neither. It's not like him to just skip work and not tell anyone..." Cal said, biting his lip with worry.

"Try not to worry about it. Call him or something." Connie suggested, before returning to a pile of paperwork.

Cal nodded and hurried to the staffroom where Rita was sleepily eating a sandwich at the counter, and hastily called Ethan. He paced agitatedly around the room as he waited for him to pick up- but, much to his annoyance, he just went through to answerphone. He hung up, annoyed, and it was only then that he realised that he still hadn't listened to the voicemail from that morning.

He stood stone still and his heart dropped as his baby brother's pained, stuttering voice came through his phone in the voicemail.

"C-Cal... H-Help me, p-p-please... B-Bonnie- she... Kn-Knife..." There was a slight pause, "B-Behind the ED... P-Please, C-C-Cal!"

Two phrases stuck in his head: 'knife' and 'behind the ED'. Cal looked down at his phone, and his heart sunk when he realised that voicemail had been sent just after 6 in the morning. Which meant that his baby brother was still somewhere behind the ED, most likely bleeding out and slowly dying.

It seemed that Rita had overheard the voicemail, as all signs of her previous sleepiness were now gone, and she was standing and staring at Cal.

"E-Ethan..." Cal whispered in shock, before turning and sprinting as fast as he humanly could towards the entrance to the ED.

However, he was brought to a sudden halt when Connie stepped out in front of him and placed a hand on his chest to stop him.

"Doctor Knight. Would you care to explain yourself?" She asked sharply, and Cal suddenly noticed that everyone in the ED was staring oddly at him. But he didn't care. All he cared about was the fast that Ethan, his little brother, was currently somewhere bleeding out alone.

"GET OUT OF MY WAY!" Cal roared without a second thought.

"Doctor Knight! Control yourself, and explain what is going on right now!" Connie demanded.

"ETHAN!" Cal was on the verge of breaking down into tears, "Just follow me!"

He pushed past her and continued running, now being followed by Rita, Connie and Zoe, who had overheard Cal's outburst.

Cal sprinted around the corner once they were outside, and once they reached the back of the ED, his worst fear was confirmed. His baby brother was lying there, his face deathly pale and his entire torso stained red as he lay surrounded by his own blood.

Zoe and Rita also seemed too shocked to move, so Connie took a deep breath before taking charge and rushing over to Ethan.

"Ethan, it's Connie, squeeze my hand if you can hear me." Connie said, before shaking her head, "He's not responding."

She continued to check Ethan's vitals as Cal rushed over and dropped to his knees next to Ethan, totally overwhelmed.

"Okay, he does have a pulse, but it's extremely weak. He's also freezing- do you know how long he's been like this?" Connie asked Cal.

"Cal?" She repeated, as he seemed to have zoned out staring at his brother.

"Um... Since about... 6 this morning?" Cal replied slowly as if every word was a huge struggle, his eyes still fixed on his brother.

"We need to get him warmed up and stop the bleed as soon as we can- it's a wonder he's even made it this long out here." Connie grimaced as Rita ran to fetch help.

As Ethan was strapped up to a trolley and wheeled hastily towards the ED with Cal beside him the whole time, Rita watched and shook her head sadly.

"Who would do something like that to _Ethan_?" She wondered sadly.


	3. Chapter 3

Every head in the ED turned as Ethan was wheeled hastily towards Resus. Above the commotion, Connie was shouting out information and commands- but her words didn't register to Cal, all that he could focus on was his baby brother lying there, his face white and his blood deep red.

As Ethan was wheeled into Resus, Connie stopped and turned to Cal.

"You know the rules, we can't let you treat him." Connie said, placing a sympathetic hand on Cal's shoulder.

"Just... Just let me come in, at least. Please, Mrs Beauchamp!" Cal pleaded, glancing through the glass doors as all sorts of needles were stuck into his brother.

"Cal, you're in no state to treat him. Look, you're shaking." Connie said, and Cal looked down to find that his hands were indeed trembling slightly, "You can wait out here, you can even see him from here."

Connie turned to help with Ethan, leaving Cal standing there and watching on helplessly as Connie and the other doctors frantically tried to stem the heavy flow of blood from Ethan's chest. Cal clenched his fists and sighed, leaning his head against the cool glass of the door. Who did this to his baby brother?

"Cal?" A female voice came from behind him, accompanied by a tap on his shoulder. Cal turned around to see Zoe peering at him worriedly.

"You should go to the staffroom- watching is just going to make you more anxious." She said gently.

"No. I have to be here, what if something happens?" Cal said, shuddering slightly at the thought.

"Then I'll come and get you. You're no use to Ethan if you aren't calm, okay?" Zoe said firmly, guiding Cal to the staffroom.

Cal sighed and threw himself down on the couch, agitatedly running a hand through his hair. Why Ethan, of all people?

The news seemed to have spread across the ED like a wildfire, as various people kept coming in to ask Cal for details. For what felt like the millionth time, the door creaked open and Robyn and Lofty stuck their heads into the staffroom.

"Cal, is there any news on Ethan?" Robyn asked, her face creased with concern.

"NO!" Cal shouted, his nerves finally getting too much for him, "ALL I KNOW IS THAT MY BABY BROTHER IS IN RESUS, AND COULD BE DEAD FOR ALL I KNOW!"

Robyn and Lofty just gaped at him, shocked by his outburst.

"Doctor Knight, there's no need for that kind of behaviour," Connie's voice cut through the silence as she entered the staffroom, "Ethan is most certainly not dead- in fact, I came to tell you that we managed to get him stable, and now it's just a waiting game for him to come around."

"Thank you- thank you so much, Mrs Beauchamp!" Cal said, trying not to break down in tears of relief as he threw his arms around Connie.

"Not a problem, Doctor Knight," Connie said, before adding dryly, "Although, in the future, you may find it useful to ask before hugging your boss."

Lofty and Robyn sniggered as Cal gave a sheepish smile as he removed his arms from Connie.

"Can I see him?" Cal asked hopefully.

"Of course. He hasn't woken up yet, but he's been moved to cubicles."

Without a second word, Cal rushed off to cubicles to find Ethan.

Zoe caught sight of him and smiled, motioning to one of the cubicles that had its curtains drawn.

"Thanks!" Cal grinned breathlessly, before hurrying into the cubicle.

Sure enough, there lay Ethan, his face slightly less pale than before and the stab wound in his chest stitched up. Cal sighed and smoothed Ethan's messy blonde hair away from his forehead.

"How many times are you going to do this to me? First you get in a car crash and almost die on me, and now you've gone and gotten yourself stabbed." Cal chuckled dryly, "Although, if you wake up during the middle of my monologue again, please tell me this time before I say something stupidly soppy."

"I think it's a bit late for that, Caleb." A quiet, hoarse voice came from the bed.

Cal immediately shot to his feet, grabbing hold of Ethan's hand, "Ethan!"

"Yes, that is my name. Well done." Ethan joked as he pulled his oxygen mask off his face, but his smile soon dropped as he winced and put a hand to his chest.

"Are you okay?! Are you in pain? Hang on, let me get someone." Cal said, his protective older brother instincts kicking in.

"No, Cal, it's fine, just stay here." Ethan said, reaching out and putting his hand on Cal's arm to stop him.

All of a sudden Cal remembered something, and his tone of voice instantly changed.

"Who did this to you?" He said, narrowing his eyes.

Ethan paused with his mouth slightly open, Bonnie's words echoing inside his head.

 _Remember, you don't tell anyone, or else Cal gets it._

"I... I don't know." Ethan mumbled unconvincingly, avoiding Cal's angry gaze.

"Ethan. Tell me. I swear to god I'll kill whoever did this to you." Cal said through gritted teeth.

Ethan hesitated for only a moment before Bonnie's words came back to him again, and he shook his head.

"I can't, Cal..." he said, biting his lip nervously.

"TELL ME WHO DID THIS TO YOU!" Cal shouted, gripping the railing of the bed angrily.

Zoe had evidently overhead Cal yelling, and walked into the cubicle frowning.

"Cal, calm down! Your brother's just been assaulted and stabbed- the last thing he needs is to be shouted at like that!" Zoe said.

Cal looked down at Ethan, and noticed the panic in his hazel eyes, causing a wave of guilt and shame to wash over him.

"I'm sorry, Nibbles, I just want to know who would do something like this to you." Cal said, sitting back down and sighing.

Zoe nodded, "Ethan, you need to tell us everything you can remember about your attacker. That's the only way that we can get them locked up where they deserve to be."

"I... I don't know," Ethan lied feebly, "The last thing I remember is walking towards the ED, and then... Yeah."

"Are you sure you can't remember anything at all?" Zoe pressed.

Ethan shook his head and said in a small voice, "I'm sorry..."

"No no, Ethan, don't be sorry- none of this was your fault." Zoe quickly reassured him, "We'll keep you here for the next couple of days or so, and hopefully you might remember something soon."

With great effort, Ethan managed to fake a smile and nodded.

How much longer would he be able to keep lying to his friends and brother like this?


	4. Chapter 4

Ethan had been kept in the hospital for the past two days, and, quite frankly, he was becoming bored out of his mind. He couldn't stand the thought that he was using up valuable bed space that could be used for other patients- patients that he could also be treating instead of just lying here, his thoughts haunted by Bonnie.

The only thing pulling him through- besides the thought of finally being able to leave- were his frequent visitors. Almost everyone in the ED had visited him at some point, and many came bearing gifts; Honey would often bring him cups of tea and coffee, Robyn brought him a huge stack of magazines and Cal gave him 'the pleasure of his company', as Cal put it.

It was currently the middle of the afternoon, so pretty much everyone in the ED was on a shift, leaving Ethan to wallow in his own misery, until Connie walked into his cubicle.

"Mrs Beauchamp- can I leave?" Ethan asked eagerly, sitting up slightly too quickly causing him to wince and put a hand to his chest.

Connie frowned, "Take it easy, Doctor Hardy, I don't want you injuring yourself further. And yes, I'm happy to discharge you. I don't want you coming back to work for at least another week though- just get plenty of rest at home."

"Finally!" Ethan smiled, "Thank you, Mrs Beauchamp."

"Not a problem. Oh, also, have you remembered anything about your attacker?" Connie asked, her voice becoming slightly gentler.

Ethan paused with his mouth slightly open as if he was about to say something. He had never lied to his boss before... But he couldn't. If he said anything, Bonnie could find out- and that would put Cal in danger. Ethan would never, ever be able to do something that would put his brother at risk.

"Um... No," Ethan attempted to lie, although his voice betrayed him by sounding extremely anxious and unsure.

"Are you sure?" Connie said, obviously seeing right through his lie.

"I... Uh, y-yeah, I-I'm sure." Ethan stuttered nervously.

"Okay, but if you remember something, or... Need help with anything, just give us a call, okay Ethan?" Connie said, looking him in the eye.

"Um, yes, of course, Mrs Beauchamp." Ethan said, smiling appreciatively.

"Alright, well, you're free to go as long as you make sure to keep taking your medication. Doctor Knight's shift is finishing soon, he said that he'll take you home." Connie said, before returning to Resus.

Ethan wasted no time in getting changed and hurrying over to the ED as fast as he could in his weakened state. When he reached the nurses' station, he was greeted by Lofty, Robyn and Rita.

"Hey Ethan!" Robyn called out, beaming.

"You alright, mate?" Lofty asked, grinning.

"Yeah- a bit sore, but otherwise fine." Ethan said, smiling.

"Any closer to finding whoever did it?" Rita asked, noticing that Ethan's smile faltered slightly when she brought up the topic.

"Um, not really. But it doesn't matter- I... I don't really want to press charges or anything anyway." Ethan laughed nervously, talking a little too quickly.

"Why not?" Robyn asked, frowning.

"Uh, well, no lasting harm's been done, so..." Ethan quickly changed the topic, "I should go, Cal said he'd take me home when his shift ended."

Rita watched worriedly as Ethan quickly walked off.

"Is it just me, or did it seem like he was... Hiding something?" Rita said, frowning in thought.

Robyn nodded, "He did seem kind of nervous, even for Ethan. I guess he's just on edge after the attack?"

"Hm... I guess so," Rita said slowly.

A few minutes later, Cal burst into the staffroom where Ethan was sitting.

"Alright, Nibbles?" He grinned, ruffling his little brother's hair.

"Yep," Ethan smiled, although Cal noticed that the smile didn't quite seem to reach his eyes.

"What's wrong?" Cal sighed, taking a seat next to Ethan.

"Nothing- why would anything be wrong?" Ethan hastily replied.

"Ethan..." Cal said, raising an eyebrow.

"I told you, I'm fine. I... I'm just glad that you're safe." Ethan said. He was telling the truth, he was glad that Cal was safe from Bonnie- for now, at least.

Cal stared suspiciously at him, "What are you talking about? Why wouldn't I be safe?"

"I-I don't know... Look, can we just go home? I'm really tired." _Tired of lying to everyone around me._

Cal quickly fetched his car keys, and the two brothers made their way out of the ED.

Once they were in the car, Cal suggested, "Sooo... Pizza and movies tonight, Nibbles?"

Ethan tried to push his worries about Bonnie to the back of his mind and tilted his head back against the seat, his eyes closed, "Sounds great."


	5. Chapter 5

"Ready, Nibbles?" Cal asked as they approached the ED. It was Ethan's first day back after a week of recuperation at home.

"Yep, can't wait to get bled and vomited on," Ethan remarked dryly, although it was obvious that he was actually glad to finally be back at work.

"Remember, if you feel tired, or get any kind of pain in your chest, you tell someone, okay?" Cal reminded him for what felt like the millionth time.

"I will, Cal. Stop worrying about me, I can look after myself," Ethan said, mildly annoyed.

"Says the person who got stabbed last week," Cal said only half-jokingly, before adding, "And can't even remember who did it."

This seemed to hit a bit of a nerve with Ethan, as he turned to face Cal before snapping in a very un-Ethanish manner, "Just leave it, will you?!"

Cal stopped and stared in confusion as his little brother stormed off towards the ED, causing all of the paramedics who were milling about to look up, eager to catch up on any drama going on.

Ethan felt only slightly bad as he left Cal standing there. Yes, he had been a bit... Harsh, but he was tired of his brother constantly asking him who stabbed him, and constantly having to lie to him and say that he 'didn't remember' even though he doubted that he would ever be able to forget who did it even if he tried.

"You alright, Ethan?" Noel asked from reception as the young doctor angrily hurried into the ED.

"I'm fine, okay!" Ethan snapped back, before quickly calming down and apologising, "Sorry, that was uncalled for- I didn't mean to be rude."

"No worries, mate, I've had much worse from your brother!" Noel joked, winking.

"Yes, my brother..." Ethan sighed as he made his way to his locker.

As he opened it, he caught sight of a picture of him and Cal as kids that he had stuck to the inside of his locker door. They looked so happy.

Ethan shut his locker and sighed, leaning his forehead against the cool metal and shutting his eyes.

 _I can't let anything happen to Cal. Bonnie can do whatever she wants to me, but Cal has nothing to do with this._

"Are you alright, Ethan?" Zoe's concerned voice came from behind him.

Ethan quickly opened his eyes and looked up, "Yeah, I... I'm fine." He answered vaguely before hurrying away to start working.

Throughout the whole day, Ethan seemed somewhat distracted and quieter than usual, which didn't go unnoticed by his colleagues. Every now and then he would look up to see Connie, Charlie, Zoe or Cal watching him, as if they were worried that he would suddenly snap at someone, or collapse, or god knows what else.

During Ethan's lunch break, Cal tried to casually sidle up to him at the nurses' station.

"You alright, Nibbles?" Cal asked, leaning back against the counter.

Ethan simply ignored him, continuing to shuffle through an unnecessary large amount of patient files.

"C'mon, Ethan, I can tell that something's up with you." Cal said, pulling the patient files away from Ethan to force him to look at him.

"Give them back, Cal." Ethan said quietly, still avoiding eye contact with him. He suddenly became aware that everyone around them was watching, clearly wanting to be filled in with the gossip.

"Not until you tell me what's been bothering you." Cal said, raising an eyebrow.

Ethan gritted his teeth, "Nothing's been 'bothering' me."

"Yeah right," Cal scoffed, "Spit it out- is it about who attacked you? I know that you know who it was. Tell me."

"JUST LEAVE IT, CAL!" Ethan turned to him and shouted, taking everyone- including himself- aback.

"I'm just trying to help you, Ethan!" Cal retorted equally loudly.

"WELL MAYBE YOU SHOULD STOP, BECAUSE YOU'RE JUST MAKING EVERYTHING WORSE!" Ethan yelled, slamming a fist down into the countertop, causing Robyn who was standing behind it to jump back, shocked.

"JUST TALK TO ME ETHAN! I'M YOUR _BROTHER!_ DO YOU NOT EVEN CARE ABOUT HOW WORRIED I AM?" Cal shouted, roughly grabbing hold of Ethan's shoulders.

"THAT'S THE PROBLEM! I CARE ABOUT YOU SO, SO MUCH MORE THAN YOU DESERVE!" Ethan choked out, tears stinging his eyes as he thought back to Bonnie's threat about Cal.

"WHAT'S THAT MEANT TO MEAN?" Cal roared.

"No- Cal, I didn't mean it like that, you know I didn't!" Ethan stammered desperately, trying not to let his tears spill.

"You know what, forget it Ethan! I don't even care anymore." Cal spat angrily, shoving Ethan hard in the chest.

Ethan staggered backwards and groaned as he clutched his half-healed chest wound in pain- and stumbled straight into his boss.

"M-Mrs Beauchamp- I-I'm s-so sorry..." Ethan breathed, trying to straighten up despite the pain in his chest.

"Both of you- my office, now." Connie said icily.

Ethan nodded and made to follow her, when he realised that a small patch of blood was seeping through his scrubs from his chest.

Connie noticed this and rolled her eyes exasperatedly, "Go and get that treated, Ethan."

"But- don't you want to talk to me and Cal?" Ethan asked.

"Not when you're bleeding from a reopened stab wound. I thought you were meant to be a doctor, Ethan." Connie remarked sarcastically.

"Oh- um, okay then. But it, uh, it wasn't Cal's fault." Ethan stammered, glancing up at his brother, who was adamantly staring in the opposite direction.

"What are you talking about? Of course it was his fault- he just assaulted another member of staff." Connie said harshly.

"Yes- but, I... Um, we were having an argument, I... I provoked him." Ethan said, trying to ignore the blood spreading on his scrubs.

"Regardless of the reasons, Doctor Knight will have to face the repercussions."

"No- please, it wasn't his fault. It was, um, entirely my fault!" Ethan said, feeling guilty for snapping at Cal like that.

Connie sighed, "Alright, but if anything like this _ever_ happens again, I won't hesitate to suspend both of you."

Ethan hastily nodded, "Of course- thank you, Mrs Beauchamp."

As Connie turned and marched off, Rita rushed over to Ethan and guided him into a cubicle, ignoring the fervent whispers that were surrounding them. This would definitely be the gossip of the week, Ethan could already picture it- _did you hear about Cal and Ethan's fight? Are they even talking to each other?_

As Rita helped Ethan to take his shirt off without causing any further pain to his chest, she asked, "So... What was that all about?"

Ethan sighed and rubbed his forehead, leaning back on the propped-up bed, "Nothing."

"It didn't seem like nothing," Rita commented as she carefully wiped the blood off Ethan's chest.

Ethan sighed but didn't reply, obviously deep in his own thoughts. Rita watched him, concerned, as she cleaned up his chest. His usual cheeky smile was nowhere to be seen, and his eyes looked dull and tired.

"Alright, all done," Rita said, straightening up, "But you should go home and rest straight away."

Ethan gave a vague nod, "Yeah, thanks."

Rita sighed as she watched the young doctor walk away, the spring in his step completely gone.

Something wasn't right.


	6. Chapter 6

For the next few days after the argument, Cal and Ethan avoided each other as much as they could- which was actually quite hard, considering that they worked in the same department and shared a lot of patients. Whenever they were forced to speak or work together, Cal treated Ethan with such contempt that Ethan honestly considered skipping work for a while. Of course, he knew that he would never have the guts to actually do it, but he still thought about it.

Ethan hadn't been himself at all- everyone was noticing it, even people like Dylan and Lily who usually had trouble acknowledging that there even is such thing as emotions. He wasn't throwing himself into work with his usual enthusiasm, and he seemed so jumpy and nervous around other people.

Ethan downed yet another can of energy drink as he approached the ED. It had just gone 5 AM, and he was running off of just under two hours of sleep due to frequent nightmares about Bonnie, but, hey, what could he do, St James' had closed their doors and diverted their patients to Holby yet again, and Ethan couldn't just sit at home whilst people were slowly dying off in the corridors of the ED.

As he entered the ED, he was greeted by Lily.

"Hello, Ethan." Lily said, giving a nod in his direction.

"Hi, Lily." Ethan said, stifling a yawn behind his hand.

"Are you alright?" Lily asked, frowning. Ethan looked exhausted; his eyes were bloodshot and had dark rings underneath them.

"Yes, uh, why wouldn't I be?" Ethan said. He was so used to telling this lie to his co-workers that he didn't even hesitate anymore. If only he could tell them the truth: _Well, a mad woman has stabbed me and is now stalking me because she wants revenge, and is threatening to kill the one person who matters to me the most if I tell anyone about her, which has now led to that person, my brother, my only family, to hate me. So no, I'm not okay._ But of course, he always said that he was fine.

"No reason." Lily said hesitantly, before walking off to deal with the huge crowd of patients in the waiting room.

As soon as Ethan had changed into his scrubs, he was immediately put to work. Ah, the joys of a black alert. What's not to love; patients filling the corridors, a lack of staff and space, double shifts to cope with the overload of patients- just wonderful.

By the end of his first shift- which ended up being a good few hours long- he was exhausted, and had gone straight to the staff room to collapse on the sofa until the end of his short break. He sighed and shut his eyes, and before he knew it he began to doze off.

When he awoke, he felt unexplainably nauseous and dizzy. He blinked groggily as he opened his eyes, why did he feel like this? The answer was soon revealed to him when he noticed a small needle prick in his arm that hadn't been there before he fell asleep, and an empty syringe on the sofa next to him.

His eyes widened in realisation; someone had injected him with something- a drug, a poison, god knows what- and he had an almost certain idea of who that person was.

 _Bonnie._

Just thinking about her made shivers run down his spine. But there was no time to dwell on it now- it was a black alert at Holby ED. There were more patients than there was space for, and less staff than there was need for. There were people dying in the corridors; he couldn't just let that happen.

Ethan slowly eased himself off the couch, his head spinning and throbbing worse with each movement. He quickly grabbed the syringe and threw it in the trash, before shakily making his way out of the staff room.

As soon as he stepped out, he was immediately pulled over to a crowd of patients by Zoe.

"Where on earth have you been? Your break ended ten minutes ago!" Zoe reprimanded Ethan as she handed him a stack of patient folders.

"I- um, I'm really sorry, I-I must have, uh, f-fallen asleep or something," Ethan stammered, trying to fight down the sense of nausea rising inside him, putting a hand against the wall to steady himself as the floor seemed to spin beneath him.

Zoe frowned as she noticed his pallor and the thin sheen of sweat on his forehead. She was about to ask if he was okay, but he had already turned his attention to a patient.

"A-Alright, um, we're going to try to get you, uh, moved... T-To a cubicle," Ethan breathed as if every word was a struggle, "A-And we'll do an... Um, an x-ray, of your..."

Ethan trailed off in the middle of his sentence, his eyes shut and his breathing heavy as he leant against the wall to try to get rid of his dizziness.

"Ethan? Are you alright?" Zoe quickly grabbed his arm to steady him, and was worried to find that he was shaking slightly.

"Yes, I-I'm fine, j-just give me a second..." Ethan managed to say before stumbling off to the toilets, tasting bile in the back of his throat.

He made it there just seconds before what felt like the entire contents of his stomach came up through his mouth and into a toilet bowl. He sunk onto the floor, his entire body shivering and sweat dripping down his forehead.

 _What the hell did Bonnie drug me with?_

Ethan heard someone walk into the toilets, followed by Lofty's voice saying, "Ethan? Zoe sent me to check on you, are you in here?"

Ethan couldn't muster up the energy to reply, so he simply waited for Lofty to reach him.

"Mate, you look terrible!" Lofty said upon looking at him, "Are you alright?"

Ethan didn't even feel well enough to give a sarcastic response about how he wouldn't be on the floor in the toilets if he was alright, so instead he just shook his head and let out a shaky breath.

"Okay, um, let's get you somewhere else then," Lofty said awkwardly, before helping him to his feet.

Another wave of dizziness swept over Ethan, and he stumbled forwards into Lofty, who quickly put an arm around Ethan to steady him.

"Sorry..." Ethan mumbled, blinking to try to get his vision into focus.

Lofty supported and guided Ethan out into a corridor, when finally Ethan's nausea and dizziness got the better of him; he felt as if the floor had just disappeared from beneath him, his head pounded worse than it ever had before, his legs were too weak to support him, he could practically feel the drug coursing through his veins-

And then the bliss of unconsciousness took over.


	7. Chapter 7

Lofty lunged forwards and caught Ethan as he collapsed, carefully lowering him onto the ground. The familiar sound of high heels clicking against the plastic floor began approaching- that meant that either Connie or Zoe was walking towards them.

Lofty held his breath as he waited or the person to turn the corner into the corridor, praying that it would be Zoe.

"What on earth happened here?" Connie's voice echoed through the corridor as she caught sight of Ethan lying on the floor with Lofty kneeling over him.

"Oh, er, Mrs Beauchamp- he just collapsed, something must be wrong with him," Lofty explained awkwardly.

"Yes, I can see that," Connie replied dryly as she came over and knelt by Ethan's side, "Okay, Ethan, it's Mrs Beauchamp, can you hear me?"

She didn't receive a reply so she proceeded to take a torch out and check his eyes, before muttering, "Pupils blown, heartrate slowing slightly..."

"Shall I get a trolley and move him to cubicles?" Lofty asked, straightening up.

Connie shook her head, "We're still on black alert- there's no room in cubicles, and all the trolleys are being used."

"We can't just leave him here," Lofty remarked.

"Yes, I'm very well aware of that fact," Connie said exasperatedly, "Take him to the staff room and get someone to treat him there. Make it quick- we really can't afford to be one doctor down right now."

Lofty nodded and hastily picked up Ethan bridal style- he knew how ridiculous he must look, but there was no other option. At least Ethan was surprisingly light. Lofty tried to ignore the odd stares from his coworkers and the patients as he hurried past reception.

"Alright there, superman?" Max joked, before noticing who it was that Lofty was carrying and frowned, "Is that _Ethan_?"

"Long story." Lofty replied simply.

He burst into the staffroom and was relieved to find Lily sitting there reading some complicated dermatology book.

"Ethan? What on earth happened?" She asked, jumping up and rushing over to help Lofty to lower him onto the couch.

"I don't really know, I found him in the toilets, and then he just fainted," Lofty explained, "Mrs Beauchamp said that his pupils are blown and he has a slightly slowing heartrate."

Lily nodded, before frowning as she suddenly noticed a small bead of blood on Ethan's forearm, almost as if he had been pricked by a needle.

"Look at this-" She began, but abruptly stopped talking when she looked up to realise that Lofty had gone over to the bin and seemed to be rummaging around in it. After a few seconds, he stood up holding what looked to be a used syringe.

"What's this doing here?" Lofty asked, frowning.

Lily's mouth opened slightly in surprise as she quickly made the connection between the prick in Ethan's arm and the syringe in the bin.

"We need to have the contents of the syringe identified right away. Look, someone injected something into him with that syringe, we have to find out what it was." Lily said, pointing out the blood on Ethan's arm to Lofty.

Lofty frowned, "How do you know that he didn't inject himself?"

Lily glared at him, "How stupid are you? First off, Ethan would never inject himself with something that would cause him to become this unwell, and secondly, if he did, he would know better than to put the needle in a normal bin like that!"

"Okay, okay, sorry!" Lofty said, raising his hands in surrender, "I'll go and get the syringe checked."

In less than an hour, Lofty was back with the results and Lily had set up an IV drip for Ethan in the staffroom.

"Beta-blockers."

Lily looked up sharply, "What?"

"Beta-blockers," Lofty repeated, "In the syringe."

"Who... Who on earth would inject Ethan with beta-blockers? He... He could have _died_ if they had given him a big enough dose!" Lily said, growing more and more flustered.

Lofty shrugged, "I don't know, but it seems to me like someone's out to get him."

"What do you mean?" Lily said, scowling.

"Well, just last week someone stabbed him, and now someone's injected him with a substance that could kill him? I don't know, it just seems like too much of a coincidence." Lofty said.

Lily sighed, "I'll go and tell Zoe about it. My shift is starting now, look after Ethan."

She managed to track down Zoe in cubicles, and hastily explained everything to her.

"Are you sure about this?" Zoe asked Lily, frowning.

Lily gave a slight nod.

"Alright, we're far too overloaded with patients to take any action right now, but I'll try to send someone to keep an eye on him." Zoe said.

She looked around, and immediately caught sight of Dylan who seemed to have overheard her and was now trying to silently escape, edging away from Zoe whilst trying to look casual about it.

"Ah, Dylan, perfect! You'll keep an eye on Ethan, won't you?" Zoe said, cornering him.

"Oh, uh, of course, but the thing is..." Dylan paused to think of an excuse, "Um, I was just about to check up on one of my patients,"

"Oh, that's fine, I'll do that for you, what's their name?" Zoe said, raising an eyebrow.

"Um, you know what, I'm sure they're fine," Dylan huffed, before grudgingly going off to the staff room.

"Where's Cal? He should know about this," Zoe said, and as if on cue, Cal emerged from a nearby cubicle.

"Ah, Cal, a word?" Zoe said, quickly pulling him aside as Lily returned to her patients.

"What is it?" Cal asked, confused.

"It's Ethan, we think that someone injected him with beta-blockers when he was asleep in the staff room. He should be fine, but he passed out earlier and hasn't woken up yet." Zoe explained gently.

A flash of surprise and worry passed over Cal's face, but he soon managed to supress it with a scowl.

"I don't care." He growled, before storming off without another word.


	8. Chapter 8

Ethan groaned as consciousness slowly returned to his body. He felt that he was lying on something soft, but had no idea where on earth he was. His head throbbed persistently- a dull, pounding pain that made him just want to sleep again.

He made no effort to open his eyes, resolving not to move for anything short of a stampede.

Unfortunately for him, that stampede arrived a few seconds later in the form of Dylan marching over to him and roughly shaking him awake.

Ethan begrudgingly forced open his eyes, blinking a few times to adjust to the painfully bright light before realising that he was lying in the staffroom.

"Wakey wakey, rise and shine." Dylan said in his usual flat, unchanging voice.

"Wh-What happened?" Ethan slurred, still completely out of it.

Dylan wasted no time with formalities, and said bluntly, "You fainted in the hallway, and Zoe forced me to come here and babysit you. Apparently someone injected you with beta-blockers. Personally, I think that standard rat poison would have been a much more efficient way of attempting to kill someone, but each to their own, I suppose."

"Dr Keogh, it sounds like you've thought about that quite a lot," Connie's cold voice came from the doorway of the staffroom.

"Well, yes, considering some of the people that I'm forced to work with around here," Dylan replied bluntly.

Connie rolled her eyes, "Alright, you can leave now that Dr Hardy is awake."

"Ah, good. Well, that was fun, wasn't it. We should do it again sometime," Dylan said to Ethan, before noticing Connie's glare, "Or not, you know, if you're too busy or something."

Connie ushered Dylan out of the staff room and shut the door, giving an exasperated sigh.

"I did hear that, you know." Dylan's voice came, muffled through the door.

"Okay, Ethan, how are you feeling?" Connie asked, taking a seat as Ethan managed to ease himself into a sitting position.

"Tired, and still a bit dizzy, but otherwise fine," Ethan replied, rubbing his eyes like a child.

"Good," Connie said with a slight nod, "I'm sure that Dr Keogh already told you, but we think that someone injected you with beta-blockers whilst you were asleep."

"Yeah," Ethan said with a small sigh, already knowing where this conversation was going.

"Is there anything that you noticed or can remember before you fell asleep?" Connie asked, looking Ethan in the eye.

"No." He replied bluntly. He was now so used to lying to people that he didn't even bat an eyelid anymore.

"Ethan, this is really important. Only last week someone stabbed you, and now someone's injected you with a potentially fatal drug. We need to find out who's been doing this." Connie said, her tone serious.

"I told you, I don't know," Ethan said, wishing that Connie would just leave so that he could go back to sleep to get rid of his pounding headache.

Connie sighed, realising that she wasn't going to get anything out of the young doctor, "Alright then. Just... Just remember that I'm here, if you ever want to talk about anything."

Ethan nodded and forced a small smile before Connie quietly left the room to let him get some rest.

He sighed and leant back against the soft pillows on the couch, closing his eyes massaging his temple in an attempt to relieve the throbbing pain in his head. He felt terrible that he wasn't out in cubicles or Resus treating patients, but to be honest he was probably in a worse state than a lot of the patients right now.

Within a few minutes he felt his eyelids become heavy, and he almost began to doze off when he heard the staffroom door swing open once again, followed by the sound of high heels clicking against the floor.

He looked up, expecting to see Zoe or Connie.

His expectation couldn't have been more wrong.

"Hello, Doctor Hardy."

A voice that made every muscle in his body tense in fear. A voice that seemed to penetrate him to his very core, and make his airways seem to constrict in his chest. A voice that sent relentless shivers down his spine.

"B-Bonnie..." Ethan croaked, his face paling. He hated how weak he sounded, and gulped before saying slightly more boldly, "Why... Why are you here?"

"Oh, just to see how you're getting on. Making sure that you haven't broken your little promise," Bonnie said with a twisted smile.

"Why did you drug me?" Ethan asked, his voice barely a whisper.

Bonnie leaned in closer to Ethan- so close that he felt like the sickly scent of her perfume was smothering him.

"To get you out of the way." Bonnie said, her voice soft yet dangerous.

 _Cal_ , Ethan thought, _this has something to do with Cal._

He tried and failed not to show his terror as he said, "What have you done?"

"Oh, nothing for you to worry about. But, let's just say that I know where you and your precious brother live." Bonnie smirked, before straightening up again, "Anyway, I'm sorry that we didn't have longer to catch up, but I have to rush off. Don't worry, I'll never be far."

She gave one final glance to Ethan before leaving the staff room, but not before putting a finger to her lips and giving him a meaningful look.

 _Cal. Cal. Cal. Where is he? I need to make sure he's okay. What if he went home? Bonnie knows where we live. What if she sent people there? Oh God..._

Ethan immediately jumped up off the couch, ignore the wave of dizziness that it sent over him. He needed to find Cal.

He sprinted towards reception, cursing his body for still feeling horribly weak after being drugged. He gave a slight breath of relief when he saw Zoe sorting through some patient folders.

"Zoe!" Ethan called, panicked.

"Ethan, what on earth are you doing?" Zoe frowned, "You should be resting!"

"Cal!" Ethan spluttered frantically, unable to catch his breath, "Where is he?"

"What?" Zoe seemed extremely confused.

"WHERE'S CAL?" Ethan half-yelled, his hands shaking in terror.

"He... He just left to go home a minute or two ago, why?" Zoe replied, bewildered.

Ethan's stomach dropped- he had to stop Cal from going into the apartment. Who knows what Bonnie could have done?

Ethan ignored Zoe's questions, concentrated on thinking hard of a way to get there before him. He couldn't call him- Cal was still adamantly refusing to listen to Ethan at all.

"Everything alright here?" Iain's voice vaguely registered in Ethan's mind as the paramedic strolled towards them.

 _Paramedic. An ambulance! If he could go in an ambulance with the lights on, he could probably get there before Cal!_

Ethan spun around to face Iain, "I need a ride. Right now- it's urgent!"

"Uh, do you want to explain why?" Iain asked, frowning.

"I-I can't, but Cal... Cal could be in danger- I need a lift, now!" Ethan said hastily, hyperventilating slightly.

"Um... Okay then, let's go." Iain said, following Ethan who was already sprinting towards the ambulance station as if his life depended on it.


	9. Chapter 9

"So... Are you going to tell me what the hell's going on then?" Iain asked as he and Ethan sped towards the apartment.

Ethan shook his head, his face slightly pale, "I can't. I-I'm sorry, but I... I can't."

Iain glanced over at Ethan, but decided not to push the matter any further. The young doctor looked stressed enough as it was.

When they finally reached the flat, Ethan jumped out of the ambulance before it had even fully stopped, leaving Iain waiting in the ambulance, confused.

Only a few seconds later, Ethan spotted Cal outside the door to their flat.

"CAL! WAIT!" Ethan yelled, his voice echoing through the empty stairs and hallways.

Cal turned around, half-angry and half-confused.

"What the hell is going on?" He growled at Ethan.

"Cal- please, don't go in! It... Just, wait!" Ethan said, trying to grab the keys away from Cal, who quickly snatched them away from Ethan.

He proceeded to put the keys in the lock, ignoring the indignant yelp from Ethan.

"NO! CAL!" Ethan lunged forward and pushed Cal away from the door, preventing him from turning the keys, "Cal, please! I-I know that you're mad at me, but you have to listen to me! Don't go in!"

Cal narrowed his eyes as he stared at his younger brother, "You're hiding something. I know that you are. I'm going to find out what it is."

Cal shoved Ethan back against the wall, before reaching out to turn the key in the lock.

"CAL, NO!" Ethan screamed desperately, throwing himself at his older brother, causing him to stumble backwards and away from the door.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Cal yelled, aggressively kneeing Ethan in the stomach.

He stumbled backwards, winded, and looked up in horror as Cal opened the door and stepped inside.

Standing inside the living room was man. And not just a man, a man holding a gun- that was pointed straight at Cal.

"CAL, MOVE!" Ethan shouted, tackling his brother to the floor just as a deafening bang resounded around the room, the bullet lodging itself into a wall.

The man quickly turned the gun towards the two brothers on the floor, Ethan on top of Cal from having pushed him to the ground.

Ethan had to act fast. Before the man could fire another shot, he managed to jump to his feet and charge at him. Another bang echoed through the flat, and Ethan saw a flash of metal zip towards him, before a burning hot pain ripped through his lower chest, the impact sending ripples of agony through his body.

But he had to keep going, he was now only a few feet away from the man. With a scream of pain he threw himself on top of him, pinning him down to the floor as Cal sprinted up from behind him and wrestled the gun from the man's grip.

Ethan found himself unable to breathe as he struggled to keep the man pinned down, the pain in his chest now becoming unbearable.

Cal quickly picked up on this, and used the butt of the gun to hit the man's head, knocking him unconscious.

Ethan slid off him and onto the floor, gasping for breath as he clutched at the hole in his chest.

"Cal..." He whispered, his chest heaving as he tried desperately to get oxygen, "I... Can't... Breathe..."

"It's okay, Ethan- you're gonna be okay, I promise!" Cal said, terrified as he knelt by his brother's side.

Luckily, at that moment Iain ran into the flat, quickly realising what must have happened. He pulled out his medical bag and began monitoring Ethan's vitals.

"Cal... I- I want... Cal..." Ethan gasped, becoming more and more panicked.

"I'm right here, Nibble, I'm not going anywhere!" Cal quickly said, grabbing Ethan's hand to reassure him.

"Okay, it looks like the bullet's gone between your ribs and has entered your left lung, causing to collapse- which is why you're struggling to breathe," Iain grimaced, causing Ethan to give a small whimper of terror.

"Ethan- you're going to be okay. Look at me," Cal said, gripping Ethan's hand, "Just keep breathing nice and slowly for me, okay?"

Ethan gave a small nod, attempting to slow down his quick irregular breaths.

Iain ran down to the ambulance and returned with a stretcher, and Cal hastily helped to move Ethan onto it.

"Wait- what will we do about him?" Iain asked just before they left the flat, gesturing at the man lying on the floor.

"I don't care. He did this to Ethan- he deserves to die!" Cal spat viciously.

"We need to report him to the police. Once Ethan's in the ambulance, I'll come back to get him- we can take him to the ED and they'll do something about him there." Iain said.

They quickly got Ethan into the back of the ambulance, and whilst Iain returned for the man Cal put an oxygen mask on Ethan and began hooking him up to the monitors.

"Cal... A-Are you still..." Ethan struggled to speak, every word causing him agony.

"Don't try to talk, Ethan," Cal said, trying to stay calm for his little brother.

"Are you... S-Still... Mad? A-At me?" Ethan managed to get out.

"Of course not. You... You just saved my life- I was stupid to ever get mad at you." Cal said, holding back tears.

Ethan gave a vague smile, before his eyes began to slip closed.

"No- Ethan, stay awake for me, yeah?" Cal said, gently shaking Ethan's arm.

Ethan managed to give a slight nod, before grimacing and whispering, "It-It hurts, C-Cal..."

"I know, the morphine should be kicking in soon." Cal soothed him, gently rubbing his arm.

Iain finally arrived back at the ambulance, carrying the man and the gun that he had used. He hastily slung him into the front seat and they began speeding off towards Holby ED.

"Who was that? What the hell happened?" Iain asked as they drove.

"I have no idea either," Cal said, glancing down at Ethan, "You're going to have a lot of explaining to do when you're better, eh?"

Ethan attempted a smile, but the pain in his chest was making him so exhausted, all he wanted to do was-

"Ethan! Keep those eyes open, okay?" Cal said, noticing Ethan's eyes beginning to close again.

"I-I can't..." Ethan wheezed, the lack of oxygen affecting him badly.

All of a sudden, just like that, Ethan lost consciousness and began crashing.

"I-Iain!" Cal yelled, panicked, "H-He's crashing!"

"We're here!" Iain shouted back as the ambulance slowed to a halt, "I'm coming round!"

A second later, the doors opened and Cal and Iain hastily wheeled Ethan out of the ambulance. Cal's hands were shaking uncontrollably, and sweat was dripping down his forehead, but he owed it to Ethan to stay focused.

Connie came out to meet them, and a momentary expression of shock passed over her face when she saw Ethan, but she quickly regained her posture.

"Right, what happened?" She asked, helping them to wheel him through.

"Bullet wound to the chest, bullet went through ribs and has punctured and collapsed the left lung. He started crashing just when we got here." Iain explained hastily, "Oh, and the man who shot him is unconscious in the ambulance."

"Alright, we'll send security to get him." Connie said, before turning to Cal, "We can't let you treat him, and you're in no fit state to treat him. Go and wait somewhere- no arguing."

Cal gave a feeble nod, unable to do anything but stare as his baby brother was wheeled away towards Resus.


End file.
